Abia Tricycle Operators Reject N1000 Govt Waste Bucket

There was panic in Umuahia Tuesday morning as tricycle operators were seen destroying waste buckets sold to them by the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) at the rate of one thousand naira each.

The tricycle operators said they were forced to purchase the item, which, according to them, they do not need since their tricycle already had space for waste.

Some tricycle operators were seen by our correspondent stopping other operators and removing the N1000 bucket from their tricycles and smashing them in protest along Aba Road by Azikiwe up to Tower.

Some of them who spoke to our correspondent described the action of ASEPA as “insensitive and inhuman, ” adding it represents a “high level of extortion by Abia State Government.”

They claim they were forced to buy a 3-litre bucket with a sticker at N1000, a price they said was “exorbitant.”

They said their tricycles have spaces behind where they can pack refuse and dispose at government designated refuse points, and had no need to buy the bucket.

The state government is yet to react to the development as of the time of filling this report.